HERITAGE
OUR HISTORY
The Geelong West Giants were formed in 2017 and brought two of Geelong's oldest clubs together with senior and junior football and netball - Geelong West St Peters Roosters (also known as 'Red West') and the Geelong West Cheetahs ('Blue West').
With over 260 years of collective history, Geelong West Giants have built a strong community over time.
Geelong West Giants has a proud history dating back to 1878. Keen to know more? Then read on.
GEELONG WEST ST PETERS
During the summer of 1988-89 the Geelong West Football Club discussed, and then agreed to a merger with the St Peters Football Club, becoming the Geelong West St Peters Football Club.
The St Peters club had a strong junior development that Geelong West didn't have, and Geelong West had a ground with facilities that St Peters lacked.
GEELONG WEST FOOTBALL CLUB
Formed in 1878, Geelong West began in the Geelong and District Football Association.
The club, with their red jumper and white monogram, was not to be confused with the Geelong West Cricket and Football Club who wore a blue and white jumper, giving rise to local nicknames Red West and Blue West.
The Roosters were a consistently strong club, winning 25 premierships by 1945. In 1946 the club joined the Ballarat Football League (BFL). Premiership success followed in the BFL, with the club winning four consecutive premierships from 1956 to 1959. The Ballarat-based clubs grew to dislike Geelong West's presence in their league, as it meant for long travelling distances for away games, and weaker crowds for home games; after 1962 the BFL was keen for Geelong West to leave. At the same time, the Victorian Football Association (VFA) was looking to expand, so the two agreed for Geelong West to join the VFA's second division in 1963.
After years in the VFA; switching between division 1 and 2, and winning four premierships, the Geelong West Football Club found themselves in a significant amount of debt. In the 1980s they struggled to gain support from the local community, in large part because of the growth of the Geelong Football League, which pushed up player salaries and deterred local businesses from sponsoring the club. The club withdrew from the VFA after the 1988 season.
ST PETERS FOOTBALL CLUB
St Peters first entered a senior football side in 1959 in the Evelyn Hurst Cup.
The club was also part of the twelve clubs that broke away and founded the Geelong Football League (GFL).
In 1980 the GFL reduced from 12 clubs to 10, St Peters was demoted to the Geelong District Football League. Time in the GDFL was brief and St Peters won the premiership in both 1980 and 1981, the club didn't lose a game in those two years, the closest they came to a loss was a drawn game 1980. The team were then promoted into the GFL in 1982 and stayed until the teams merged to become Geelong West St Peters in 1989.
GEELONG WEST SPORTING CLUB
Formed as the Geelong West Cricket and Football Club in 1926, while known as The Cheetahs, early on the locals would call them Blue West as to distinguish them from the VFA club Red West.
After the war, they joined the Geelong and District Football League (GDFL) in 1946. The Cheetahs competed in the GDFL Evelyn Hurst competition from 1958 to 1978. It was part of the breakaway movement that created the Geelong Football League in 1979. Falling standards on the field lead the club to be demoted to the GDFL in 1986.
The club's traditional home venue was Bakers Oval in Shannon Avenue, Geelong West. In 2008, the club moved to play it's fixtures at West Oval in Church Street, but it's administrative and social base remained at Bakers Oval.